Congressman Geoff Davis : Serving Kentucky's Fourth District

Washington, Nov 3, 2009 - On October 29, 2009, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the Democrats’ new health care reform legislation.  The Speaker, who once famously promised the “most open and transparent Congress in history,” added more than 900 pages to H.R. 3200 behind closed doors to develop a bigger, more expensive and more complicated health care reform package, the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962).

The American people asked Congress to start over on a new bill that would increase access to affordable health care without piling additional debt on future generations, costing more jobs, or putting the government between patients and their doctors.  Unfortunately, the Democrat Majority chose to ignore the voice of the people and propose a bill that includes the same unpopular provisions that were in the Democrats’ previous health care legislation (H.R. 3200) and more. 

At 1,990 pages (about 400,000 words), it will take Members of Congress and the American public time to read and comprehend this massive bill, but one thing is already clear: H.R. 3962 is not reform.  Speaker Pelosi’s new legislation includes massive tax increases on small businesses and families, harmful cuts to Medicare benefits for seniors, unfunded mandates, budget gimmicks and would make the federal health care bureaucracy more complicated and more rigid by creating over 110 new boards, bureaucracies, commissions and programs.

According to analysis by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), H.R. 3962 comes with a trillion-dollar price tag.  Specifically, CBO estimates that H.R. 3962 will cost approximately $1.2 trillion over the next ten years, a violation of President Barack Obama’s “target” spending total of $900 billion for health care reform legislation.

Health care reform is not reform without provisions that reduce health care costs for individuals, families, businesses and the government.  In a recent letter, the Blue Dog Democrats said, “Rising health care costs are the single largest threat to our long-term fiscal picture, our economy and the pocketbooks of America’s families.  In order to get a handle on our deficits and address the long-term financial liabilities of Medicare and Medicaid, we must take steps to reduce the growth rate of health care costs.”  The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Office of the Actuary reported that H.R. 3200 would increase national health expenditures by $750 billion over the next ten years.  With double the pages and double the government, H.R. 3962 is likely to be even worse. 

 To pay for its overwhelming cost, H.R. 3962 includes $729.5 billion in job-killing tax increases.  These tax increases will affect every American, including families making $250,000 or less, small businesses, people who are unable to afford insurance, and businesses that want to hire new workers. 

In these times of economic hardship, the American people need jobs, not more taxes.  When the cost of Speaker Pelosi’s bill is measured in terms of jobs, the bill is more expensive than H.R. 3200.  According to the economic model developed by President Barack Obama’s chief economic advisor, H.R. 3962 could cause up to 5.5 million Americans to lose their jobs. 

We can increase access to and reduce the cost of quality health care in America.  However, H.R. 3962 does not get the job done.  Health care reform is an incredibly complex issue that must be carefully debated to find the right way forward.  My Republican colleagues and I stand ready to work with the Majority to pass commonsense bills that will improve our health care system.

You can read H.R. 3962 by clicking here.  In addition to the legislative text, you can find reading guides and summaries of the bill as they become available.  Speaker Pelosi is expected to reveal additional changes to H.R. 3962, so check website often for the most up-to-date information.